Commission’s CRA move a power play
I believe the recent vote by the majority of the Boynton Beach City Commission to rid the Community Redevelopment Agency of the two independent members is a political power move to control all development in the CRA district, with little or no oversight.
The carrot that was dangled to the public at the Oct. 13 CRA meeting (after 15 or so members of the public spoke in favor of retaining members Woodrow Hay and James “Buck” Buchanan) was to create an “advisory committee” to the CRA board consisting of seven civilian members.
Some reasons stated by the commission majority were as follows:
1. They (the commissioners) are elected officials and, therefore, are held to a higher standard. I submit that a person’s moral and ethical conduct is what is important. We all know there are (and will continue to be) officials who have taken solemn oaths who are now incarcerated.
2. The commissioners were criticized by the independent members for how they evaluated the CRA director’s performance. I thought we were living in a democracy, where you could speak your mind and not have to worry about repercussions.
3. In Mayor Jerry Taylor’s summation, he said the people were getting what they wanted. He was at the meeting, but he obviously did not listen to the public speakers. What we continually requested was that Hay and Buchanan be retained on the CRA board. Buchanan’s term was to run until March 2017; Hay’s term was to run until March 2019.
The majority of the commission even went against the recom mendation — by the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce, traditionally the cornerstone of a city — to retain the two independent members, which leads one to believe that the vote was a “done deal” prior to the meeting.
The mayor encouraged people to apply for the new “advisory committee,” and I did so, but I do not possess the credentials or expertise of the men who were unjustly removed from the CRA board. The bottom line is that members of an “advisory committee” will have no voting power, will be “stepping on eggshells” for fear of being disbanded, and will amount to nothing more than a paper tiger.
Thank you to City Commissioners Mike Fitzpatrick and David Merker for listening to and voting for the public.